A wingnut is a handy, stabilizing piece of hardware. So why is it a pejorative term for those of a certain political persuasion? Also, is there something wrong with the phrase committed suicide? Some say that the word commit is a painful reminder...
A listener in Carmel, New York, remembers his father’s phrase knuckle down, screw bony tight, a challenge called out to someone particularly adept at playing marbles. The game of marbles, once wildly popular in the United States, is a rich...
A listener in Honolulu, Hawaii, wonders about an expression used by her husband’s grandmother, who was from eastern Kentucky: “He left so fast, that you could have played marbles on his coattails.” The notion that a person is...
marble fever n.— «But for all the learning there is to do on Smith Hill, presumed Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed cautioned the newcomers to avoid so-called “marble fever”—a term for legislators “who get up here and forget about the...
marble cricket n.— «Sir Garry also informed a curious Bolden that he first started playing a form of the game, known to Barbadians as “marble cricket” where the batsman bent on one knee while batting when he was four or five...
servery n.— «Wired: Any simple ideas for charging devices? Stewart: I have something called the servery. It’s a room with two long white marble counters on either side and lots of plugs. That’s where everything is—I have my cameras, a lot...